3 Generations Share Love, Commitment to Forest

Elizabeth Su and Andrew Lee celebrate their engagement in Redwood National Park with sticks that say “Stick by me … I’ll stick by you.” Elizabeth’s family has a long history of dedication to the redwood forest.Mae Carter agreed that she and her husband Bob qualify as world travelers, having visited 150 foreign countries. Of all the wonders they’ve seen, the longtime members of Save the Redwoods League count the redwood forest among their favorite places.

“In addition to the redwoods’ beauty and serenity, they place current problems in perspective,” Mae said.

The couple is so committed to protecting the redwood forest that they dedicated two groves through the League. The first is in rugged Sinkyone Wilderness State Park.

“We wanted something special to mark our 60th wedding anniversary,” Mae said. Their second grove dedication is next to Portola Redwoods State Park in the League’s spectacular Peters Creek Old-Growth Forest, one of the most beautiful ancient redwood forests still standing less than an hour’s drive from the bustle of the South San Francisco Bay Area.

By dedicating a redwood grove, the Carters support the League’s work to purchase and restore redwood forestland; study the redwoods and learn how best to protect them; and teach children and adults about these magical expressions of life.

“It is a lifelong joy knowing that we helped preserve something that is irreplaceable,” Mae said of their grove dedications.

Now living in Delaware, Mae retired from her post as Assistant Provost in Women’s Affairs for the University of Delaware. The third-generation Californian grew up around redwoods in Berkeley. Her family originally arrived in the state by covered wagon.

Bob was born in Boston and moved to Los Angeles when he was 7 years old. In 1956, his job as a chemist brought the couple to Delaware.

The couple’s love of redwoods runs in the family. Their daughter Cathy also dedicated a grove in Peters Creek Old-Growth Forest, and their granddaughter Elizabeth got engaged to Andrew Lee in August 2015 in Redwood National Park’s Tall Trees Grove.

“We see the redwoods as symbolizing strength, resilience, longevity and beauty, so it was the perfect spot to celebrate the seven years we’ve been together and the beginning of our next chapter,” Elizabeth said.

Like the Carters, you can dedicate a redwood grove, leaving a vital legacy to protect, restore and connect future generations to the redwood forest. Learn more today.

Warning: this topic is gruesome, and awesome. Last week, Land Project Manager Christine Aralia and I walked the Orick Mill Site with Texas State researcher Butch Weckerly. Butch has studied the Roosevelt elk in Redwood National and State Parks since 1997, witnessing local extinctions and population explosions of the elk over the years…

Within the span of a couple of years, Mather had helped found the National Park Service and Save the Redwoods League: two organizations that would go on to safeguard millions of acres in hundreds of parks. In spite of frequent poor health, Mather helped get both organizations off the ground by devoting huge amounts of his time, energy, and personal funds; even paying rangers’ salaries out of his own pocket.